Things I Want Thursday

Because Sass over at The Life of Sass had a great idea for today, I’m participating in “Things I Want Thursday”. Here goes…



1. I want people to stop fighting. The people in government, the people in the media, the people in my life. Stop. It feels good to stop fighting. Nuh-nuh-nuh—none of that, “But they—“. Just stop.

2. I want people to stop preaching tolerance and start preaching respect. Tolerance connotes some teeth-clenching and some resistance. Let’s all acknowledge that everyone is just as entitled to a spot on the earth as everyone else. No more we vs. they—life is not a bridge tournament, though it would be a lot more civilized if it were.

3. I want an end to the name-calling. If people are going to bandy about terms like socialist, fascist, communist and the like, they ought to at least know what the words mean, and from some of the rhetoric I’ve read, it’s apparent that they don’t know. It's like in "The Princess Bride" when Vizzini keeps using the word 'inconceivable', and finally Inigo points out, "I think you do not know what that word means."

4. I want to remember to live in the moment. I’m always thinking of the other things I should be doing, instead of ‘being present’ where I am. I have read a lot about this, and I’m trying to do better. It’s a widespread problem, but that doesn’t make me feel any better about myself. I’m working on it.

5. I want fall weather! We seem to have jumped right into winter, with really cold temperatures and two tons of rain. Autumn is my favorite season, and unless things do a major 180 here soon, we’re going to have missed it entirely.

6. I want to learn to manage on four hours of sleep a night. I know I have said this before, but I’m not getting enough done. Come on, people, there are books to be read, blogs to be read and commented on, and fabric just crying out to be quilted. Plus I need to get back to exercising.

7. I want to take better care of myself. Yeah, I eat properly, but I need to (see #6) exercise. I know it, but am currently on hiatus with no good excuse…
8. I want to see my grandchildren more. With one in Boston and one in Sacramento this is hard. But it’s so awesome to have the little people around!

9. I want my kids to have a better life than I had. I certainly was fortunate enough to do better than my parents did, but this economy is making it tough for young couples to get ahead… I worry about their future, not just in terms of the economy, but also in terms of climate change and political stability.

10. I want a lot more than I thought I did when I started this!

11. I want a world where brains trump beauty, where manners trump crude, where sense trumps yelling. Oh, and of course where funny trumps young.

Is this too much to ask? What do you want?